Locomotion No.1 – move to Shildon splits North East

THE National Railway Museum has defended itself after a raging battle split the‘cradle of the railways’over plans to move Locomotion No. 1 – one of the world’s most iconic early steam locomotives – from its long-time home in Darlington to the Locomotion museum in Shildon.

The move, announced in advance of major celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of the opening of the world’s first public steam-hauled line, the Stockton & Darlington Railway (SDR), in 1825, is part of the NRM’s new £4.5 million plans to expand its Locomotion outreach station. Construction will begin in October 2021 on a 4000sq m second building to nearly double the covered space, housing an extra 40 vehicles from the National Collection – the building due to open to the public in September 2022.

, part of the National Collection, is on loan to the Head of Steam museum in Darlington – which, as reported last issue, is itself the centrepiece of £50 million plans to develop a Rail Heritage Quarter as an international visitor destination in time for the bicentenary. However, the NRM plans will see the locomotive travel to Shildon in 2021 when the existing